Latest updates to our regulations from the June 2014 Board Meeting.
The 2014 Sitting Board meeting of Dilutes Australia Ltd took place on the weekend of May 31/June 1. The Board have once more responded to the changing understanding of equine colour genetics and the requests of members and some major changes have been made which will see Dilutes Australia really earn its name – every horse or pony with one or more dilute genes in Australia will be able to be registered with Dilutes Australia. DA is for ALL dilutes. The changes outlined below are due to take place on August 1, 2014.
DA began over 60 years ago for the registration of Palominos and, after name changes and a development in the understanding of what makes a genetic palomino, it continues with its Palomino Stud Book with clear guidelines regarding registration. To get registered as a Palomino, a horse must be a genetic palomino with two red bases, one cream gene and no other dilution genes or excess white with underlying pink skin, or blue in the eyes. It is clear and simple. You’ll often hear people say, “My Palomino wouldn’t get registered with DA because he’s too smutty,” but all genetic Palominos get registered with DA, mind you, they might not do well in a coat colour class if they are very smutty, but DA register on a genetic base, and all Palominos are registered. If they have a blue eye or even a parti-blue eye, or they have ‘excess white’ (such as a large belly splash with underlying pink skin), they will STILL get registered with DA, just not in the Palomino registry.
Some years back Dilutes Australia introduced the Broken Coloured & Roan Dilute Showing Registry, commonly known as ‘BC&RD’, and it began with the rule that the horses must be registered with a recognised coloured association (Paint, Pinto, Appaloosa, Palouse, Sportaloosa, Roan etc.) and, if they also had a dilute gene, they could pick up a Showing Registration with DA, and classes as well as promotional group, state and national awards were put on for them. Dilutes Australia is now upgrading them from a Showing Registry to a Non-Solid Dilute (NSD) Stud Book and regular registry. This not only means a change from the ‘DA BC&RD’ initials to the new ‘DA NSD’ initials, it also has some huge benefits for the NSD horses. As of August 1, the offspring of the NSDs can now get Ancillary registered, which is something that did not happen as a showing registry. If a Pinto, Paint, Appaloosa or Palouse is registered as an NSD (and the current Broken Coloured Dilutes can be changed over) and has a solid chestnut foal or a bay pinto or a non dilute spotted offspring, that foal can get Ancillary registered and qualify for a whole range of events and state and national awards. It should add value to the solid offspring of coloured horses, for instance, if a Palomino Paint is registered NSD with Dilutes Australia and has a solid chestnut foal, it can get registered Ancillary with DA as well as Paintbred with PHAA; if it has a solid Palomino foal, it can get Palomino and Ancillary with DA as well as Paintbred with PHAA – this adds value to horses in coloured breeding programs where dilute genes are also used.
Also, the Non Solid Dilute registry will be open to all dilute horses and ponies that do not meet the requirements for the solid registries (Palomino, Buckskin, Cremello/Perlino, Dun, Silver, Champagne, and Pearl) because of blue or partial blue eyes or ‘excess white’ (according to DA regulations), as long as they do not also carry grey or roan (more about these below) – they do not have to be registered with a coloured association first. There has been a concern that some dilutes have not met regulations for the DA solid registries (such as a partial blue eye or patch of white with underlying pink skin on the body) but did not have enough white to get, say, Pinto registered, so they missed out on registration. Also, some DA members have produced foals that did not meet the regulations for solid registries for something like a blue eye or small body patch and they were not financially in the position to take out a pinto membership and registration in order to get their DA bred horse registered as a BCD. The new regulations make it fair for all horses and ponies with a dilute gene but which don’t make the colour requirements for the solid registries – they can be NSD registered without needing to be registered elsewhere.
Many members have brought forward the issue of ‘composite dilutes’ – horses and ponies that have more than one type of dilute gene, such as Dun that also carries Silver but which, under current rules, can only be registered under one gene. DA had a policy of registering horses in one registry only, and there was a strict order of registration based on dominance and commonality. So, a horse that carried Silver and Dun went in to the Dun registry. As from August 1, it can go in BOTH the Silver AND the Dun registries. A pony with, say, Champagne, Dun and Pearl would have only been registered Pearl but from August 1, it can get registered in all three registries in recognition of the fact that it carries all three of those dilution genes. There are a couple of exceptions – Palomino remains two red bases plus one cream and no other dilutions… so no ‘composite’ Palominos; Buckskins with Pearl will only get Pearl registered because Pearl and Cream work together to create horses that look like double cream dilutes and the pink skin and pale eyes of a ‘Buckskin Pearl’ doesn’t meet the colour requirements of a Buckskin (dark skin and dark eyes). For all those people with horses or ponies that have two or more different dilute genes, it means they can choose to pick up the extra registrations and show in the extra classes and nominate for the extra awards.
There are some important changes to the Ancillary registrations. All DA registered horses, not just DA Stud Book horses, that have offspring a different colour from themselves, whether solid or broken coloured, dilute or non-dilute can now have those offspring Ancillary registered. Previously, Ancillary horses could not be broken coloured. From August 1, there will be three categories in Ancillary – Category 1 for the dilute progeny of DA registered horses that qualify for a different registry from the parent (for instance, if a DA Palomino has a Buckskin foal or if a DA Champagne Appaloosa has a Palomino spotted or solid foal); Category 2 for the Non-Dilute progeny of any DA registered horses (for instance, if a DA Palomino has a chestnut foal or a DA NSD Buckskin Tobiano has a solid bay or Tobiano bay foal); and Category 3 for roans and greys carrying dilute genes.
DA have never registered horses with grey in any of the regular registries as grey is an overriding colour factor but there have been greys in the Ancillary registry because sometimes someone breeds a grey to a registered dilute and gets a grey or grey dilute. As of August 1– if you have a grey horse that also carries a dilute gene, even if its parents are not DA registered, you can register it Ancillary (Category 3) and take part in those classes and awards. Category 3 is also for roan dilutes - this means that the NSD registry does not have roans as they are not considered ‘non-solid’ (referring to solid colour or non-solid/broken colour, not solid conformation), but roan dilutes will still be registered, can still show and compete for awards.
The Registrar and Chairman of the Board are currently working long volunteer hours to get the Dilutes Australia Stud Book on-line. Keep in mind that the pedigrees had to start back in the 1940s and earlier and work forward from there with every horse individually entered and cross referenced to other stud books if they were registered elsewhere, so it is a huge, time consuming job. This will be an exciting and invaluable reference tool in the world of dilutes when completed. Dilute owners, for a very small fee, will be able to add photos and information to their on-line pedigree so it will be an excellent advertising platform for studs and stallion owners.
Dilutes Australia would like to remind all members of two things that have been in place for some time. Firstly, please note that electronic banking can be used and it is easy to pay membership fees, registration fees, nomination fees and show entries on-line – the bank account details are on forms on the website www.dilutesaustralia.net and on show entry forms. In fact, registrations and memberships can be completed on line by filling in the forms, attaching photos and making the on-line deposit of the fees – no need to send anything in the mail if you like completing tasks on the computer.
Secondly, all members must remain aware of the Dilutes Australia Ltd ‘Social Media Policy’ which can be viewed in full on the website. Members are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous and ethical manner at all times and information shared on line must be honest and fair; disrespectful, discourteous, derogatory, derisive or defamatory comments, whether they refer to individuals or organisations, will not be tolerated and will be reported. If any member has a complaint about a show or official or the Company in general – put it in writing to the relevant Branch Committee or the Board, do not take part in public ‘association bashing’ of this or any other association.
So – Dilutes Australia – for ALL horses and ponies with a dilute gene, or two or three. It continues to respond and evolve and change to meet the demands of its members and the growing understanding of equine colour genetics. The changes will add value to many horses and the extra registrations can prove to be a good selling point which, in the current market, is important. Some of the changes give people the chance to have one horse with many registrations. Most importantly, the changes mean that every horse with a dilute gene can be registered with Dilutes